The past six years has allowed us sufficient time to revisit the subject and to see what players may have earned their way on to Pitt’s all-time team.

Pitt’s all-time team would rank among the best that have ever played college football. Presenting the updated University of Pittsburgh’s All-Time team:

At quarterback, who else could it be but No. 13, Dan Marino? Marino will forever be the benchmark for future Pitt quarterbacks and what Sparky Anderson said about Johnny Bench can be applied to Dan Marino and to Pitt quarterbacks before and after Marino, “Don’t embarrass anyone by comparing them to Dan Marino.”

An All-American in 1981, Marino broke nearly every major passing record in school history and still holds the school record for most touchdown passes in a career with 79 and in a season with 37. Marino was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Behind Marino in the backfield are two running backs that, like Marino, had their jersey number retired by the University of Pittsburgh. If anyone would not select Tony Dorsett to Pitt’s all-time team, then automatically consider that list null and void. Dorsett is on the short list of the greatest running backs in college football history.

Dorsett was a four-time All-American and won the Heisman Trophy in 1976, leading Pitt to a national championship. He was one of the few running backs ever that was a threat to go the distance on every carry and Dorsett set an NCAA career rushing record with 6,081 yards, the first player ever to rush for over 6,000 yards. Dorsett was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994 and was named to Sports Illustrated’s NCAA All-Century Team.

Some may want to list James Conner in Pitt’s all-time backfield to join Dorsett. Conner did finish with 3,733 yards rushing and 56 touchdowns in his college career.

Pitt had quite a few other outstanding running backs over the years as well: Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, Randy McMillan, Curtis Martin, Curvin Richards, LeSean McCoy, and Dion Lewis, just to name a few, and some would argue that one of them should be Dorsett’s backfield mate on Pitt’s all-time team, but the choice here is Marshall Goldberg. None of the others has their number retired nor led their team to two national championships like Goldberg did.

For that matter, how many players finish in the top three in Heisman Trophy voting two years in a row? Goldberg, a two-time All-American, finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1937, was the Heisman runner-up in 1938, and held the Pitt career rushing mark for nearly 40 years until Dorsett came along. When you finish in the top three for the Heisman Trophy twice and your jersey number is retired, there is no doubt you were a great player.

At wide receiver, there is no debate in selecting Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won the Biletnikoff and Walter Camp Awards in 2003 and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting, the highest finish for a sophomore in the history of the award. In 26 games at Pitt, he had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons, averaged over 100 yards per game receiving, caught 34 touchdown passes and set an NCAA record with at least one touchdown catch in 18 consecutive games. Fitzgerald still holds Pitt’s single-season records for receptions, 92, and receiving yardage, 1,672. Had he stayed for his junior and senior seasons Fitzgerald would probably be considered the greatest wide receiver in college football history.

Despite being Pitt’s all-time career leader in receptions with 254 and receiving yards with 3,361, Tyler Boyd does not break into the lineup as the other Pitt’s all-time wide receiver. Joining Fitzgerald at the other wide receiver position is another Biletnikoff Award winner, Antonio Bryant. As a sophomore in 2000, Bryant was Big East Offensive Player of the Year, leading the nation in receiving yards per game, and went on to become Pitt’s all-time leader in receiving yards with 3,061 before Boyd surpassed it.

At tight end, no player before or since embodied hard-nosed smash mouth football more than Mike Ditka. Ditka, an All-American in 1960, led the Panthers in receiving for three consecutive seasons. His number 89 has been retired by Pitt and Ditka was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and he was named to Sports Illustrated’s NCAA All-Century Team.

Since 2011, Pitt’s had some fine offensive linemen earn All-American honors such as Dorian Johnson, Adam Bisnowaty and Brian O’Neill, but Pitt’s all-time offensive line is a difficult one to break into which speaks to the outstanding play of those individuals.

Some great offensive tackles have played at Pitt. Players like two-time All-American Jimbo Covert, and All-Americans Randy Dixon and Reuben Brown, but when you think about Pitt’s offensive line, particularly the tackle position, two players stand out above the rest, Bill Fralic and Mark May.

Fralic was a three-time All-American and finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1983 and sixth in 1984, which is remarkable for a modern-day offensive lineman. Fralic was one of the greatest offensive tackles in college football history, and was named to the Sports Illustrated NCAA All-Century Team and is in the College Football Hall of Fame.

May won the Outland Trophy in 1980 as the best lineman in the country, and did not give up a sack his final two years at Pitt. An All-American in 1980, May was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Both Fralic and May have their uniform numbers retired, and when you are one of the very few to have your uniform retired by your university, you should be on your school’s all-time team.

At guard, the choices are Mark Stepnoski and Ray Montgomery. Stepnoski was an All-American in 1988 and helped open holes that allowed Curvin Richards to rush for over 1,200 yards that year. Montgomery was All-American in 1929, and Panthers’ legendary coach Jock Sutherland called Montgomery the perfect guard. That’s good enough for me.

There have been some outstanding centers for Pitt, but how many were three-time All-Americans? Only one. Bob Peck was Pitt’s only three-time All-American center. Peck anchored Pitt’s offensive line and earned national recognition in 1914, 1915 and 1916 and helped lead Pitt to national championships in 1915 and 1916. Peck was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. If you make All-American three times, you have earned a spot on your school’s all-time team, period. Peck gets the nod over two-time All-American and fellow College Football Hall-of-Famer Herb Stein.

In a city that appreciates defensive football, Pitt fans in the ‘70s witnessed a player for the ages. At defensive end was one of the best in college football history, Hugh Green, a three-time All-American. Green finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1980 and received the Maxwell Award as the top player in the nation and the Walter Camp Award for the college football player of the year. Green’s number 99 was retired by Pitt and he was named to the Sports Illustrated NCAA All-Century Team. Green is still Pitt’s all-time sack leader with 49.

Defensive ends Jabaal Sheard and Ejuan Price both had All-American seasons since 2011 but the other defensive end on Pitt’s All-Time team is Green’s teammate Rickey Jackson. Jackson and Green teamed up to give Pitt the finest set of defensive ends in the country. Jackson finished his career at Pitt as the school’s fifth all-time leading tackler.

At defensive tackle, the first choice is unquestionably Aaron Donald. In 2013, Donald became Pitt’s most decorated defensive tackle ever winning the Bednarik Award, the Lombardi Award, the Outland Trophy and the Nagurski Trophy for his outstanding play that year. Donald won just about every award he was eligible for other than the Heisman Trophy. Donald finished his career at with 29.5 sacks and 66 tackles for loss. The other choice at defensive tackle is All-American Randy Holloway. Holloway was All-American in 1977 and his 33.5 sacks are still second all-time in Pitt history.

At linebacker for Pitt, you have a trio of All-Americans: Jerry Olsavsky, Joe Schmidt, and H.B. Blades. You could do more than pencil in Olsavsky for 100 tackles a year; you could put it in ink and guarantee it.

Joe Schmidt was a leader and team captain for the Panthers and was named an All-American in 1952 and later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. Schmidt’s number 65 has been retired by Pitt.

H.B. Blades was an All-American in 2006 and was Big East defensive player of the year that year. Blades was a three-time All-Big East selection and he is third all-time in career tackles at Pitt with 433.

At cornerback, one has to select Darrelle Revis. One could see while at Pitt that Revis could play alone on an island at cornerback and would do well in the NFL. Revis tied and/or led the Panthers in interceptions in 2005 and 2006 and had two interception returns for touchdowns in 2006.

At the other cornerback spot, the pick is Tim Lewis. Lewis was a two-year starter at cornerback and was selected by the Green Bay Packers as the 11th overall player selected in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft.

At one safety spot is Pitt’s all-time interception leader Bob Jury. Jury picked off 21 passes while at Pitt, and still holds the two highest interception totals for a season in Pitt history, intercepting 10 passes in 1976 and eight in 1977. Jury was named All-American in 1977.

At the other safety spot is Carlton Williamson. Williamson is best remembered for the pick-six interception against Penn State in 1980 to seal a Pitt victory over arch-rival Penn State, but his steady play drew the attention of the San Francisco 49ers, becoming a member of their Super Bowl winning teams after his playing days at Pitt.

Pitt’s all-time kicker is Conor Lee. Lee shares the school record making 12 consecutive field goals and holds Pitt’s career field goal percentage record with 83.3%.

The choice for punter on Pitt’s all-time team is Brian Greenfield. Greenfield holds both the highest season and highest career punting averages at Pitt and was named an All-American in 1990.

The choice for kick returner used to be Hank Poteat. Whereas Poteat never returned a kickoff for a touchdown in his 81 kickoff returns, Quadree Henderson returned four in 73 returns. Henderson’s career average of 26.6 is nearly three yards per return better than Poteat and Henderson averaged 30.5 yards a return in 2016.

Make room again for Henderson as Pitt’s all-time punt returner as well. Tom Flynn still is Pitt’s leader in career punt return yardage with 983 with two touchdowns in 122 returns and an 8.1 yards punt return average. Just how good was Henderson though? Henderson had three touchdowns in 37 returns and a 13.4 yards career punt return average.

There you have it, Pitt’s all-time team, which would certainly be in the upper echelon of all-time college teams.

John Baranowski is a sports historian and contributor to newspapers, sports publications and sports websites. This and other articles written by him can be found on his blog: https://johnbaranowski.wordpress.com/

Thank you for the kind words Reed and for posting the article and links. I have a great deal of respect for your writing and coverage as you were the only one in Pitt media last year that wasn’t sold on and had doubts about Max Browne going into the season. The rest were all, “Hey he’s going to be great, he’s a five-star stud quarterback. Pitt is set at the quarterback position and it will be a position of strength….yada yada yada.”

It’s great to get a real honest report as opposed to hearing the company line of positive p.r. that’s so often all you hear.

wow, agree that Mr Baranowski is probably the most knowledgeable writer I have read concerning Pitt football, and it is hard to argue against his all-time FB team. I had forgotten that Stepnoski played guard at Pitt as he would have been my pick at center.

The only thing I would question is picking Bryant above Boyd at WR since Boyd has most of the Pitt records …. playing with 3 different QBs. And especially since Olsavksy was the apparent pick over Schmidt based on the >100 tackles per year.

Nonetheless, the above article in addition to the two others that Reed attached show John to a definitie student of Pitt FB. Mr Barnowski … please don’t be a stranger.

WWB, thank you for your comments. Schmidt definitely over Jerry O. as evidenced by Schmidt’s number being retired by Pitt. While writing the article and thinking about linebackers, Olsavsky came first to my mind only because I saw his entire career at Pitt so that’s why his name appeared first for linebackers.

Great stuff. By position over the years, it appears that Running back, followed by O-line then D-line were our strongest and deepest positions. To me linebacker has been the weakest. Funny when the team up the road has dominated at that position.

I would also agree that Boyd vs Bryant is a toss-up, but the Biletnikoff award does give Bryant the edge.

Now that would be a challenge. Do you rate them by their excellence in reference to their position all-time?

One would think Dorsett would be #1, the school’s only Heisman trophy winner and led them to a national championship. If you asked a knowledgeable college football fan who is the greatest running back in college football history, Dorsett should make everyone’s top 10 list. If you asked a knowledgeable college football fan who is the greatest defensive end in cfb history, Hugh Green should make everyone’s top five list.

So was Green a better defensive end than Dorsett was at running back or Fitzgerald at wide receiver? Fitz only played two years. I’ve seen it done in the NFL and most had Jimmy Brown as the best running back ever and Jerry Rice as the best wide receiver ever. Some had either as the best player ever.

I guess it depends on your criteria. I have seen one list that says that Green was the best college player of all time. I personally would list Marino in front of Fitz, because of the win/loss record and what he meant to the team. Also that Fitz only played two years. I would rate them by their achievements at Pitt and not in the pros. Probably only modern era guys as well since none of us saw the old guys.

Also as a unit, the O-line from a year ago was the most productive since the great one from the 80’s, and probably the one from the teens, but you can’t compare different eras. I’m sure Goldberg’s line was pretty special too.

AVP had real receivers. Marino had a bunch of converted RB’s and guys who were afraid to catch the ball over the middle… or who couldn’t catch. Pryor, John Brown and the RB’s were his best receivers over his Pitt career. What does that say??

Sherrill recruits one of the greatest QB’s in football history yet fails to recruit even above-average WR talent. Foge continued the tradition and led to the biggest fail in college football history of a top program cratering in just a few years.

Tough for me to have a lot of credibility discussing players who were before my time. But I do have some awareness of Pitt history. I’ve been a fan since the mid 70s. But I was a kid and don’t remember much. Vaguely remember Dorsett, Green, Fralic, etc.. Vividly recall the following though:

Ironhead was a beast. His combination of size, speed and athleticism was amazing. Only comparison I can make is Jerome Bettis.
Alex Van Pelt could sling it.
Having McCoy, Lewis and Ray Graham consecutively was quite a treat for Pitt fans.
I knew I was watching greatness when Larry Firtgerald was at Pitt. He was the best college receiver I’ve ever seen. I laugh now when I think some said that he didn’t have the speed or quickness to have the same success in the pros.
Aaron Donald was unblockable his final year. Just totally dominant in almost every game. Double teamed constantly and he still made plays.

Reed,
Thx for putting the article up and thank you John for writing it. Well done!!!!!
I have to admit it’s really hard to look back on these great players and teams of yesteryear and now see our many years of mediocrity and remain patient and positive. All I can say is “LET’S GO PITT!”

Seems to me we should have an offensive lineman who blocked for TD in those years he ran wild.

Tom Brzoza played Guard and Center for Pitt in those years and was a consensus 1st team All-America at
Center in 1977. Yes TD was gone but Elliot Walker (#34) ran wild as well for a 1000 yards and a 6 ypc
avg and Freddie Jacobs tacked on another 700 yards with close to 6 ypc avg.

Excellent article – brings back some great memories. Any Pitt article that mentions Bob Jury is a good thing!

Antonio Bryant was a much more dangerous WR than Tyler Boyd, IMHO. Bryant could do everything that Boyd did, but Bryant was also a deep threat. In fact, for me it would be a toss up between Bryant and Larry Fitz for the TOP Pitt WR spot – that’s how good I think Bryant was…

MajorMajors: I don’t know why, but Bryant is not often thought of as an all time Pitt great, but he was. I agree, much better than Boyd. Lest people forget, he was a two star recruit who was the last player added to his recruiting class by Walt Harris.

Valid questions wwb. Green and Jackson both at times were stand-up defensive ends and not always in a three-point stance. I have seen Jackson referred to as an OLB but in most cases he was referred to as the “other” defensive end opposite Green. In that he was on the front-line in those four and five-man fronts in my mind places him as a lineman.

Pitt Football on Twitter back in 2015 proclaimed, “College football’s most destructive defensive end tandem ever: Rickey Jackson and Hugh Green. Doleman was a terrific player as was Tony Woods but I gave the edge to Jackson as DE.

As for Hayes, it’s hard to pick someone who wasn’t first-team All-American over those that were even though I did just that with Jackson at DE but he was definitely overshadowed by Green and did finish fifth all-time in tackles.

I believe it was Moe. and I was very disappointed when the Stillers drafted them. For at that time I didn’t know the animosity the Stillers held for Pitt. Drafting a guy who was a bust that had broken the local college QB’s wrist and ending Pitt’s chance to repeat.

Glad to see old timers from great Pitt teams from before WW II. They all played two ways back then, offense and defense. Easier to spot offensive linemen and defensive players, especialy from the modern era when two platoon football was allowed. Texas great Bobby Layne, for example, was drafted by the Bears and played defensive back, I remember reading, as well as QB in the 1940’s. He was also a placekicker.

Here is something of a controversial comment. I wonder if Marshall Goldberg was passed over in the Heisman because he was Jewish. That NY club that was involved in the selecting, and still is, might have exhibited a form of antisemitic prejudice that unfortunately prevailed in Europe pre-WW II and had a similar although less deadly prejudice in this country too at that time. The America First Movement of that era had Charles Lindberg as the spokesperson not only for pacificism but also for admiration of German fascism and complaints about the influence of rich Jews. There was also the angry Father Coughlin on the radio who railed against the influence of Jews in the US. Read the novel Gentlemen’s Agreement from the 1940’s regarding antisemitism in America. It was a best seller and an acclaimed movie in 1947.

If you don’t agree of my assessment regarding Goldberg’s treatment, the other antisemitic stuff did exist in the US. Don’t blow that off.

I am not Jewish. Dad was very profane, but he STRONGLY taught us NEVER to use the vile words for religious or ethinic or racial groups. He had grown up with such words flung at him. BTW, I was a classmate of Goldberg’s son at Pitt in the early 1960’s. IMO he always seemed unhappy. He was on the Pitt team but mostly on the scout team.

Sorry for the history and literature lesson. Guess you can figure out my majors at Pitt.

Davey O’Brien won the Heisman that year and and led TCU to an undefeated season and a #1 ranking and he set a bunch of records doing it. Plus this is the year Pitt turned down a Rose Bowl bid and Jock’s last as HC. So I think your off the mark.

In 1938, O’Brien threw for 1,457 yards — a Southwest Conference passing record that stood for ten years. He had only four interceptions in 194 attempts, and his NCAA record for most rushing and passing plays in a single season still stands today.[3][dead link] That season, he led the Horned Frogs to an undefeated season, as they outscored their opponents by a 269–60 margin and held nine of their ten regular-season opponents to seven points or less, including three shutouts.[3] TCU finished the season with a 15–7 victory over Carnegie Tech in the Sugar Bowl and a national championship.[3] O’Brien was named to 13 All-America teams and became the first player to win the Heisman and Maxwell awards in the same year. He was the first Heisman winner from TCU and the Southwest Conference.[3] Off the field, he was also an honorary member Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Texas Gamma chapter. He majored in geology and expressed little interest in pro football in January 1939.[2][4

Good stuff Emel, however, I considered them solely as WRs, so the return stuff wasn’t in consideration. Boyd a touchdown reception every one every 12 catches, Bryant one every six catches. One was a Biletnikoff Award winner as the best receiver in the country. Hard to top that one.

You know when I wrote that Pitt had so many guys finish runner up in the Heisman, I just figured Biggie got the royal shaft like Fitz and Hugh Green did. However I did not know Biggie missed 2 games in 1938 due
to injury and there were only 10 games then. Also didn’t know O’Brien had such a big record breaking season in leading TCU to the #1 ranking. Biggie had a much better year in 1937 but finished behind Clint Frank(Yale) and Whizzer White in the ’37 Heisman.

Great write up and comments.
Can someone give Heather a call?
Pitt should paint a life-sized mural in the hall at heinz field showing Pitt’s All Decade Team. (Actually might be cheaper to make a digitally drawn banner.)

It would depict the top player of each position for the past 10 years.
Might help some with recruiting and provide even more motivation for the players.

correct – but the concussion protocol has only been around a few years.
My point is that players know when they are concussed
For them to blame the system or the league, is BS
I also blame the league for not having protocols in place 20 years ago
Both are complicit
But I understand that culture. Heck if Favre would have said his head ached, he would have been ridiculed by coaches, players, fans and media for not being tough enough
Thank goodness, the culture is slowly changing.

But all many players were improperly diagnosed, or the team doctor would release to hi to play when he wasn’t ready yet, and or a player was treated with numbing spray and sent back in when he really shouldn’t have.

Nowadays, it takes Mike Ditka 5 minutes to get out of a car. And he made the statement that he wouldn’t want his grandkids playing FB.

My Dad, born on 12/12/12, an easy birthday to remember, was in his prime when he watched Pitt win multiple national championships. He’d tell me about, as he described him, this little Jewish kid who ran like the wind. He said he never saw a more perfect true runner, that just happened to be in a football game while doing it, than that Marshall Goldberg guy.

Dad changed his mind after witnessing a couple live games when TD was plying his trade, and I concur. I have never seen another Dorsett Tony, & Dad said Tony was even better.

John B, nice synopsis, thank you. This article is a perfect example of why so many are disenfranchised with the Pitt Administration. It should be a requirement of all Pitt BoT members to know and understand where the institution came from, not just in sports, but in all things Pitt. The Dairy College representatives aren’t tied into the sports greatness, nor the research and academic greatness that defined Pitt for so long.

With academic institutions, it’s the total package, with one, no greater than the other.

I like Randy Holloway a lot and would recommend that the writer consider going to a 5-2-4 defensive alignment. LOL! We had some great DL and our LB crew just doesn’t measure up.

I loved Fred…have his jersey and his autograph. I was 13 and a Boy Scout usher at Pitt Stadium when I fell in love with the 63 Team. They were truly magnificent ! I actually went to a lecture by Johnny Mike in 64 who talked about how important it was to get at least 3.5 yards on first down.
Loss to Staubach and Navy plus the assasination of JFK killed that Pitt team.

Pitt’s game with Penn State, scheduled for Nov. 23, was postponed until Dec. 7 because of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on Nov. 22. Kennedy’s death and the game’s subsequent postponement wound up hurting Pitt’s bowl chances.

The Panthers had wanted to play in the Cotton or Orange Bowl, but ended up with a Sun Bowl bid because of the Penn State postponement. Pitt officials, hoping for something more attractive, turned down the Sun Bowl and got shutout completely.

Pat Forde@YahooForde
Delaware State, 0-12 in the MEAC, is going to win tonight. That leaves Pittsburgh, San Jose State, Incarnate Word, Northwestern State and Chicago State as the last teams winless in league play. Nice company, Pitt.

In an Athlon poll from last fall of the greatest 50 FB players of all time, the top 6 players were from the offense. No. 7 was Hugh Green who is widely thought of as greatest college defensive layers of all time. Dorsett was 10th, Fitz 23rd.

The selecting panel was from a cross-section of college football writers

what this shows is that offensive players, especially RBs, are the ones that quickly come to mind. They are the easiest recognized, their stats are gauged and remembered, and the long TD run provides the most thrilling moments.

WWB, if you had to choose four players in Pitt football history for Pitt’s Mt. Rushmore or for a statue to the four gate entrances at the UPMC David Tepper Stadium, who would they be?

Dorsett’s a given, the school’s only Heisman Trophy winner as is Hugh Green, Pitt’s greatest defensive player. After that the top three to come to mind are Fitz, Goldberg and Ditka. Who embodies Pitt and Western PA football more than Iron Mike? Does one let Marino’s outstanding NFL career influence that decision? Should it? Fralic’s a three-time All-American and on the SI College Football’s All-Century team.

Boy, what a kick in the pants if he goes to the U. On the other hand, he is a South Florida native and Miami kills to 2 birds with one stone … gets a good, experienced assistant and rids itself of a rival recruiter

Kuligowski, who made $362,500 at Mizzou in 2015 and received a significant raise to come to UM — Miami, a private school, is not required to disclose salaries — has been open about his desire to climb the coaching ladder. ………………

This is the guy who Bama just hired as DL coach so he probably will get >$500k

That line is the biggest load of crap ever! He should be honest and say…

I LOVE THIS CITY, PROGRAM, AND UNIVERSITY…IF THEY WILL PAY ME A BUTT LOAD OF MONEY TO STAY! HAIL TO MY BANK ACCOUNT. OH…AND SORRY I DIDN’T GET ANY 4 STAR RECRUITS FROM FLORIDA EVEN THOUGH I AM SUPPOSED TO BE THE MAN DOWN THERE.

Fred Mazurek was a year behind me at Pitt. He was not a big guy, but he was a big time recruit out of Republic HS. Great runner and decent passer and led that Pitt team as an offensive sparkplug. I remember him dating Coach Michelolsen’s daughter at Pitt and I just read that he is still married to her. I still remember seeing him sitting at and playing a grand piano in the Pitt Student Union by himself, no audience, just playing well. Drafted by the Redskins as a flanker, played 2 years. Got his Masters Degree at Catholic Unversity in DC. Involved in tax work and is a licensed attorney in California where he lives with his wife and family. All American baseball CF at Pitt. Three sport all star at Republic, just like Goldberg was in Elkins. WV. Don’t forget the older stars from Pitt’s past.

Can’t thank you enough for this! Freddie was my first athletic idol and was ever the gentleman when I met him. I forgot he dated Johnny Mike’s daughter. Glad to hear he’s done well with his life. By the way , we beat Penn State in that delayed last game in 63.

Still remember the smells of boiling hot dogs and hot chocolat at old Pitt Stadium from those days.

MajorMajors just sent this info to me please use it if necessary and as always get in touch with me if I can help in any way…

“Reed,

Maybe you’re aware of this, but if not, there’s an organization called “Operation Veteran Benefits,” whose office is located up I-79 in Mars, PA. They call themselves “A Community Service of Brian Catale and Associates.” They assisted me in applying for “aid and attendance” benefits for my mother. (The person who assisted me was Kimberly Brielle Catale.)

Now, “Brian Catale and Associates” are financial planners, so in going thru the process of applying, they may try to steer you to some of the financial products they have available to assist in making the application as favorable as possible. But their assistance if free, and you don’t have to use any of their investment products.

“While at Indiana, Mack played in 10 of the Hoosiers’ 12 games last season, recording 23 receptions for 310 yards and three touchdowns. His numbers were good enough to place him at fifth in receiving on the team”

Any wonder why I think Narduzzi’s recruiting has been sub-par?

Instead of having a stable of real talent at Pitt we keep looking in the bottom of other team’s barrels.

I felt the same way when we got offensive lineman Stefano Millin to transfer from Kent State. He wasn’t even third-team All-MAC last year. So when a player, not even a star from Kent State, can boost your OL, that tells me you have no confidence in what offensive linemen you have on the roster now and/or they’re not good enough and you’re not bringing in by recruiting enough good offensive linemen.

Of course you must be kidding. He comes off as a head coach, much less arrogant than most head coaches. You throw crap out there all the time, call people names and you barely know the dam program. By they way, yes Heather is my wife. Lol.

Ironic that you (Reed) were the only optimistic one here two years ago about our WRs after Boyd left and our most productive returnee was Dontez Ford. You may remember that J Weah had shown absolutely nothing up to that point (aside from a penchant to drop passes)

If Pitino really cared about Ware, he would have called timeout with 5 seconds to play and checked him into the lineup so that he could always be in the books as playing in that final. Would have been a moment for the ages that noone could EVER dispute. Very easy to place an orthopedic support inside a larger shoe and have him stand near the sideline on one leg for 5 flippin seconds. Instead, Pitino only cared about himself.

MajorMajor…the Matthews kid puzzles me… tallest receiver on the team but rarely targeted.. if memory serves me correctly I think he caught most of his balls from Brown while Nucci rarely if ever tossed one his way- Lopes was his go to guy… I never focused on him.. wondered if he had problems getting open???? If that was the case he could get passed this year by new blood.

IMO Mathews is more of a possession receiver a la Shanahan, as opposed to a HR threat like Weah. Lopes is also more of a possession type. The French Connection …. Ffrench and Jacques-Louis can hopefully provide the deep threat .. they seem to be the fastest.

I really like what I saw so far from Tipton … just haven’t seen that much from him. It would be nice to see him healthy.

I have found a bright spot when it comes to Pitt BB. (probably the only one) PSU is allegedly one of the teams that are on the NCAA bubble according to the experts. Thus, the quality of their OOC will be under the scope.

You may remember that they thrashed us in December, however, a win over Pitt this year is about the same as their wins over Binghamton and Farleigh-Dickerson. They have no quality OOC wins and needed us to be good.

Thus, if they are left out, it will be the second time in two years where we helped deny them from the playoffs .. FB in 16 and this

Big night gentlemen, last real chance to get a conference win and break the Cleveland Brown like streak that our beloved basketball team is on. Could this game determine the future of the Kevin Stallings era?

Tonights game, IMHO, is a dilemma for us solid PITT FANS. Why you ask? Well, as a fan do you want them, for the short term, to win a conference game because they haven’t yet OR do you as a fan, for the long term, believe it would be better for us to lose at this point with the hope that it puts more pressure on Heather to blow it all up at the end of the season and start fresh with a new HC????

not sure one win would make a big difference overall …. but I would like to see a W for the players sake. I’m sure they are feeling pretty down and embarrassed. And despite what a few here thinks, I think the players are really trying.

My guess is the BB decision has been made. Based on the style of play, the lack of a high-level recruit in 3 tries, and the total lack of enthusiasm for the coach – to me it will all come down to whether they can make the money work…

Stallings has at least one and probably two more years before Pitt even thinks of firing him. Pitt will not eat that contract and will be content to play before a 60% empty basketball arena for as long as Stallings is here.

This basketball season has pained me more than any in my lifetime. And for a lot of reasons, I have been convinced that Kevin Stallings should be shown the door. But in the past week, I have spoken with a number of people who are far more knowledgable than I am, who say that you cannot fire him after only two years, given what he inherited. If it happens, Pitt will become a place where nobody will want to come and coach. Whether she’s here or elsewhere, nobody will trust Heather Lyke or the Pitt administration in any subsequent coaching hire. The only way you even consider doing it is if you literally back the Brinks truck up and unload about 6 million a year on someone like Sean Miller. Nobody else worthwhile is going to want to come for 2-3 million. We will overpay for a mid-major up and comer, and whoever that is will have no chance to win for at least another 2-3 years, if at all.

The BB situation at Pitt is worse than just the current coach. A proven coach (Dixon) with NCAA tournament experience including a #1 seed once, and then a seasoned coach from another conference have not shown they could recruit when in the ACC. How is another coach supposed to come in and do it? What is the natural BB recruiting base where Pitt should recruit from? Western PA BB is not any good with rare exceptions. I think it is important that KS keeps his job for 2 more years to develop the current players while Pitt figures this recruiting business out..

We’re down to only 5 schools in D1 total (of 351 schools) without a Conference win, as Delaware State(3-25) got off the schneid, in their last game, winning their 1st conf game over Coppin State. You might remember Pitt squeaked by Delaware State in the non-con, 74-68. In early indicator how bad this Pitt team was.

The Rebounding Margin also suggests a lack of work ethic. Rebounding is all about who wants the ball more, who fights for it. We should all be experts at that having witnessed 2 great rebounders who
were only 6’6″ tall. Jerome Lane and DeJuan Blair.

So this contradicts this notion that this team plays hard. Yea they run up and down the court. Big deal.

Do you watch them play Emel? If you do, you know that they don’t rebound because they DON’T TRY TO REBOUND!!! On the offensive end, when a shot goes up, EVERYONE drops back to play defense to prevent fast break points. It is really painful to watch, and goes against everything I’ve ever known about rebounding. Crash the boards, box out, etc. This team does none of that. And you are correct about Lane and Blair. I’ll throw Brian Shorter in there too. To me, it is more about the way they are coached than it is a lack of effort or “playing hard”. I do think this team has limited talent, which combined with lack of experience has killed them this year. But the coaching I have seen has me wondering if Otis had ever coached Grade School basketball, let alone Division I NCAA basketball.

No decent rated recruit will want to come to Pitt to play basketball for a coach that’s unlikely to be around for the recruits entire stay at Pitt. Thus the recruiting dumpster will go round and round for Pitt as long as KS is the one doing the recruiting. A vicious circle that’s not likely to end anytime soon.

and whos to say Pitt will find a guy to come in here after another 2 years. whos to say Pitt will be any better in 2 years. i think it sends a bad message – come to Pitt and you get a guaranteed 4 years no matter how bad you are.
the pitt basketball program will be completely destroyed in another 2 years

Emel, I get it that WVU, Kansas, Oklahoma and some other schools do a good job of recruiting in states with a very minimal population base. But these programs have made a commitment to basketball and have been good for a long time. I have the most respect for WVU, actually, where Huggins has done a really good job of recruiting outside of West Virginia while moving over to a new conference. He is a superb coach. Pitt just seems lost in the recruiting wars, and will be not good for the next two years no matter who coaches unless the current crop can develop. So we should keep KS while our dear AD figures things out.

If you like the Pete at 20% capacity
If you like the Pitt brand destroyed
If you like the frosh and think they can be very good in 2 years
If you like the incoming recruits
If you like losing millions each year
If you think no new coach will walk into this mess now
If you trust Heather
If you think KS deserves a chance

I keep listening to talking heads say how bad of a job Pitt is/was when KS was hired.
1) Plays in one of the top 5 on campus stadiums
2) History, NCAA team 11/13 years.
3) One of the best student section in college basketball.
4) Playing in the best conference in college hoops.
5) BiG time city with small time feel, safe and lots to do.
6) Very good academic institution.

Now, add all these up and you really have a crappy job in a crappy place. I can see why no one wanted to come here. Ya, right.
What you have is a criminal case against Barnes for the hiring sham he pulled off.
Also, please don’t tell me Jamie’s style doesn’t work in the ACC. Look no further than UVA to see how successful that style and that type of players can be. Jamie’s fault was he got talked into the philosophy that you needed super athletics to compete in that league. But the kids he got, although more athletic, weren’t athletic enough, they also weren’t tough enough, so he had the worst of both worlds. You can be very successful in the ACC with big east style ball.
In summary, Pitt’s problem is what it has always been, They have no clue on how to market and sell. Sell your strengths, don’t be afraid to pound your chest over what you have. Almost any school, even the blue bloods would take those six points ?I listed. Now GO OUT and SELL IT TO A COACH!!!

It wasn’t a great job way back in 1999…..but they still managed to get Ben Howland. Fancy that.
There are other Ben Howland’s out there. AD’s job is to identify them. I found one myself
in just a few minutes at New Mexico State….where they are 22-5 under 1st year coach Chris Jans.
A disciple of the very successful Greg Marshall of Wichita State.

Again either mis-truths about Pitt by those that harbor ill will towards Pitt or just
really uninformed peeps.

I think we all want the same thing, which is to see Pitt BB return to the previous heights, and then maybe take advantage of the conference and increased benefits that go with it to build a top notch program. But we are where we are, and there are some factors we just don’t know about that go on behind the closed doors of the AD and Chanceller’s offices. With BB, I wonder if the slow build or the big splash is the answer. Dixon had the slow build approach with his recruiting but he hit the wall. We had the Pete then, which didn’t help recruiting, but everyone was still saying that Pitt was becoming a basketball school. The big splash is to throw money at it from the rich alums and go buy a top notch coach. There is a big risk with that, including the possibility of rules violations from some high profile coach.

You know, the other thing that really jars me is saying what an awful situation KS came into.
1) Please ignore the fact he had 7 of the top 8 scorers back from an NCAA team.
2) Please ignore that he was the coach and if he couldn’t control a bunch of college kids it was on the coach
3) Please ignore he had 20months to recruit the players he wanted to coach and run his style. I mean, he was recruiting kids while at Vandy,no?
4) Please ignore he brought in 11new kids, none of which are future stars. I mean, these 11 kids were forced on him, right?
5) Please ignore the fact he brought in a kid who averaged 3.4ppg in JC.
6) Please ignore that he has went out of his way to ingratiate himself to the students and fans(ya, right).
7) And most of all, please ignore his style of coaching, which if it hasn’t changed in 20 years why would you think it would change now?

I agree completely JoeKnew. Seems to me that he shoulda/coulda won a bunch of games with the talent he inherited in his first year (last year). It’s up to him to control the kids and make them buy-in and play hard. Instead, they lose a lot of games last year, some of the talent graduates and the remainder is basically run off by KS. That’s on KS.

This year, he brings in 11 new guys – some freshman and some transfers. He knows that the ACC has talent, and to win 15 games (which, IMO should be the minimum expectation) he’s going to have to coach fundamentals and have his kids out rebound, out hustle, out press, out scrap, out think, and out coach the other teams and come away with 15 wins. Our schedule wasn’t all that difficult… 15 was doable. And, that’s on KS.

Again, I’m not a BB guy, but KS is not the right guy for our program. Time to move on and hire a new coach. And, recruits know that KS is on the hot seat, so his future recruiting just got more difficult.

It is clear that he botched the first year, JoeKnew. If he is fired, it should be for his first year performance. Something really bad must have been going on last year, and Cam Johnson referred slightly to it in an interview before the Pitt/NC game- about NC playing for each other and being close. There were just too many transfers and disciplinary problems. But KS did bring in enough kids for three recruiting years, so he tried to recover from it. But this year, the poor win/loss record will again hamper recruiting- the endless cycle we have seen at Pitt for 30 years!

Not as much in BB. A few good players and a good coach can turn the tide rather quickly. I was at Pitt when Smith and Gore came to town in 1984 (along with a new coach, I believe) and Lane in 1986. These three plus the coach helped turn the tide quickly and Pitt was ranked high in both 1987 and 1988, if I remember correctly. Pitt fell off some a few years later then seemed to quickly get things going when Howland came to town.

By endless cycle, I was thinking more about football. Yes, BB can be turned around more quickly. That is why Pitt went for a “seasoned” coach in KS, thinking that they could have a smooth transition rather than breaking in a young coach. That is why the temptation is always there to pay the bucks under the table to get the top recruits. When the whole NCAA recruiting scandal comes out, I predict we will be surprised at how many coaches are dirty.